


Fooled Around and Fell in Love

by Iyearnforaplotadvancement



Series: Try Me [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: F/M, I Am Groot (Marvel), One-Sided Attraction, Pining, Unrequited Crush, no bestiality, yeah it's a raccoon and an alien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 13:23:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18592114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iyearnforaplotadvancement/pseuds/Iyearnforaplotadvancement
Summary: Elvin Bishop had really said it best. Rocket learns it the hard way...





	Fooled Around and Fell in Love

**Author's Note:**

> I know I should be updating my other Guardians fic. I am. Trust me. I am trustworthy.
> 
> While you're waiting, have a little vignette that I think better gets into the head of Rocket and his attraction to Nebula.

“You really like her?” Peter asked, the skepticism was painfully evident on his face.

Rocket kicked at the dirt, not daring to look at Peter, “Yeah,” he mumbled.

Peter made a face and then went silent. He looked everywhere except at Rocket. “I mean, she’s cool-,”

“Quill-,”

“Yeah?”

“Just...shut up okay?”

“Yeah I think I will,”

* * *

 

“So you have a thing for my sister?” Gamora asked over breakfast.

Rocket sniffed. “I don’t have a thing okay? She’s just...we have a lot in common,”

“I see that,” Gamora agreed with a hint of a smile.

Rocket shoveled his food to avoid letting anymore words escape him.

“She likes you too, if that helps,” Gamora said, picking at her food.

* * *

 

“The Blue One is horrid,” Drax asserted.

“Thanks buddy,” Rocket murmured, elbow deep in the ship’s electrical wiring.

“Absolutely revolting. And her eyes are as empty as ancient caves,” he continued.

“ _Thanks_ , Drax,” Rocket half growled. He tugged at a wire a little harder than necessary for good measure.

“But I can see why you are attracted to her. Repulsive as she may be, she is strong. Puny on the outside. But her insides are strong,” Drax continued.

Rocket paused, reflecting on Drax’s words.

* * *

 

“I am Groot,” Groot rumbled, noticing that his smaller friend was curled up in a pile in the corner.

“Yeah I’m fine, Groot,” he replied.

“I am Groot?”

“No, really. I am,” Rocket contended.

“I am Groot,”

“Yeah...Of course I’m thinking about her,”

“I am Groot,”

Rocket inhaled a long drag of breath then looked at Groot. “You ever really wanted a girl that you couldn’t have?”

“I am Groot,”

At this Rocket felt shocked. He rose from the floor, patting his friend on the side. “You and me both, Bud,”

* * *

 

“She has feelings for Kraglin,” Mantis said. Rocket nodded absently. Maybe if he didn’t acknowledge what she said, it would be less true. “He has feelings for her as well,” Mantis added.

“I figured,” Rocket mumbled, “I mean you saw the way she looked at him at Peter’s birthday,”.

Sadly, Rocket scratched the back of his head. “I don’t have a chance,” he huffed. A wry grin grew on his face as he looked up at Mantis, “Plus you know, I’m-well I’m me,” he gestured to himself. “I’m not exactly some alien species that that happens to look like an animal. I am an animal,” Rocket sat down, next to Mantis.

She gently pet his head, “I am sorry you feel this way, my friend,” she said, her voice dripped with the deepest of sympathy that made even Rocket a little misty eyed. “While I cannot guarantee that there is a chance for you and her to have a romantic relation, I can guarantee there is a different, stronger bond. And if you truly feel for her this way, then you will be content with this kind,”

“So in other words-,”

“Sometimes what you want isn’t what you need-,”

* * *

 

“There used to be another girl,” Rocket admitted to Peter over a drink.

“A person?”

“An animal, like me. She was an otter,” Rocket said, “She was great. Better than great,”

“What happened to her?” Peter asked.

“Stuff. Stuff always happens,” Peter hummed, letting the topic drop.

Rocket scratched at his arm. He swished the alcohol around in his mug a bit before he said anything. “I haven’t felt this way about someone in a while,” Rocket said meekly.

“Why her though?” Peter asked, “Why her of all people?”

“She doesn’t look at me like I’m a science fair experiment. She just sees me as something she can kill,” Rocket said.

Peter’s brow scrunched up, “That’s a good thing? I mean from what you told me, she literally has tried to kill you. Not to mention, I don’t think she knows what you are. Like, has she even seen a raccoon before?”

Rocket sighed, “You don’t get it, Quill. She doesn’t gawk and awe at me. She just looks at me and she doesn’t see a talking raccoon with cybernetic implants. She sees me. I’m not any different than that Captain Ersatz she’s so obsessed with,”

“Rocket, a lot of people don’t see you like that-,”

“-Now they don’t,” Rocket corrected. “It used to be different before,”

“Okay she, definitely wants to kill you, what else?” Peter queried.

“She’s pretty, to me at least. And she’s got a lot of mechanical parts, I like mechanical stuff. And she’s blue, that’s-like- one of the three colors I can see. And there’s this vulnerability about her. Like she’s kinda soft once you get past her defense mechanism. And…”

“And?” Peter prompted.

“And I see a lot of myself in her,”

“Hopefully not those furry-between-your-legs-parts, because that’d be weird,”

“Shut up, Quill…”

* * *

 

Rocket hadn’t gone into detail with Peter about how smart he thought Nebula was. Or how she wasn’t put off by how callous he could be. He never mentioned that Nebula was a great shot and had a surprisingly vast knowledge about different space crafts. He certainly didn’t mention he admired her tenacity when it came to things she wanted, or how subtle her humor could be when she wanted to show it. He especially never told Peter about the correspondence they kept up in the in-betweens (of missions, visits, and life). Nor had he mentioned the long logs of their back and forth, and how Nebula was shockingly good at giving verbal blows as good as Rocket was He never said how much he appreciated her advice in the weird, jilted way she gave it. Or that if you said the right things, she might even crack a smile that was brighter than the Alpha Canis Majoris.

Most importantly he never told Nebula that either.

* * *

 

“So you should come by sometime. Maybe some socializing would do you some good,” Rocket said, his usual witty banter was not up to their usual standards that day.

“Maybe I’ll just throw myself out of the airlock instead,” Nebula replied. It was their weekly video chat. Nebula was complaining about Kraglin’s ship and crew. Rocket was complaining about his. Through their commiserating a bond was growing, and Rocket tried to ignore the smile that was growing on his face as Nebula found new and colorful ways to insult her crew.

Who knew a friendship based on mutual hate could have grown into something so endearing.

“So how’s the Cap?”

“Idiot as always,”

“Well be nice to him, he’s a moron, have mercy. He don’t know no better,”

Nebula smirked, “One of the few times you’re correct,”

He watched her as she fiddled with her nail, “I enjoy talking to you, Fox,” and on her lips was almost a small grin.

“Right back at cha’, Big Blue,” Rocket said easily enough. “When you’re coherent that is,”

“I should go, it’s too quiet in the ship. I’m afraid someone’s choked on their own spit or something,” Nebula droned.

“I forgot you work as a nanny now,” Rocket joked lamely.

“Whatever. Be careful, Fox. Or don’t. I don’t care,” Nebula said, shutting off her end of communication. Rocket grinned too. His grin quickly fell away as the silence of his quarters engulfed him. By a Terran God, what was he doing?

* * *

 

Rocket looked at himself in the dingy, little mirror of the ship’s bathroom. “You like her,” He said to his reflection, “You really like her,” He was silent for sometime, then said, “It’s just a crush. It ain’t serious,”.

He rolled his shoulders, “You’ll get over it. She’s just a somewhat-attractive woman. Big whoop,” Silently, he drummed his fingers on the edge of the sink. He stared longer, as if that would give him some kind of resolution he’d been seeking.

He sighed and shook his head, “You’re gonna hurt real bad after this one, Rocket.”


End file.
